Veteran Observer-Reporter sports writer Mike Kovak offers his take on high school sports.
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Monday, March 7, 2011

Michigan school wins first game after player death

HOLLAND, Mich. (AP) — A west Michigan high school basketball team has won its first game since a star player collapsed after scoring the winning basket to give his team a perfect regular-season record.Nearly 3,500 fans observed a moment of silence before the tipoff of Monday night’s state tournament game between the teams from Fennville and Lawrence high schools.Monday’s game was the first for Fennville since 16-year-old junior Wes Leonard died of a heart ailment after scoring the winning basket in its regular-season finale Thursday.Fennville won Monday’s district game 65-54. The Blackhawks move to the second round with a 21-0 record.Players from both high school teams wore warm-up shirts paying tribute to Leonard.The game was moved to the Hope College arena in Holland to accommodate a much larger crowd.

About the blogger

A devoted fan of the Grateful Dead, Bob Marley, 1990s rap and Tom Petty, Mike Kovak works as a sports writer for the Observer-Reporter, a newspaper located in Washington, Pa. Kovak covers high school sports – from football to softball and everything in between. He's known to appear at the random Pitt football and men's basketball game or the occasional West Virginia game and previously helped Steelers beat writer F. Dale Lolley at home games. When not tracking college basketball – his sport of choice – or watching That 70s Show reruns, Kovak is busy playing Mr. Mom for his daughter, Anna Noel Kovak.

Kovak was hired by the Observer-Reporter in 1999. He previously spent two years at the Beaver County Times and four months as an intern at the Tribune-Democrat, located in Johnstown.

Kovak invites any and all movie buffs to exchange lines from classic comedies, such as Anchorman, Caddyshack and The Hangover.

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Mike Kovak is a sports writer for the Observer-Reporter. All content on this blog is Copyright 2011, Observer Publishing Co. Washington, PA. 1998-2009 All Rights Reserved